After re-election win, Gillibrand will give 'long, hard thought' to 2020 presidential run

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand says President Donald Trump's latest tweet about her was a 'sexist smear' aimed at silencing her voice. The New York Democrat says she won't be silenced on the issue of sexual harassment. (Dec. 12)
AP

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand speaks to supporters during an election night watch party hosted by the New York State Democratic Committee, Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2018, in New York.(Photo: Mary Altaffer, AP)

“I believe it is a moral question for me," Gillibrand answered about 2020, "and I believe in right versus wrong, and until this election I actually thought that wrong was winning."

But Gillibrand, who was first appointed senator in 2009 and has since won two full terms, says that "as I’ve traveled across my state, across the country for all these candidates, I’ve seen the hatred and the division that President Trump has put out into our country and it has called me to fight as hard as I possibly can to restore the moral compass of this country."

So she added, "I believe right now that every one of us should figure out how we can do whatever we can with our time, with our talents to restore that moral decency, that moral compass and that truth of who we are as Americans, so I will promise you I will give it a long, hard thought of consideration."

Gillibrand is considered among the potential presidential hopefuls in 2020 after she built a national profile during the #MeToo movement. Years ago, she received national attention by seeking to reform how the military responds to sexual assault cases.

She has since said President Bill Clinton should have resigned amid the Monica Lewinsky scandal, and she was the first Democratic senator to call for the resignation of Sen. Al Franken of Minnesota amid allegations that he inappropriately touched women.

Gillibrand is on a media tour to promote her new children's book coming out this month about the women's suffrage movement, titled Bold & Brave: Ten Heroes Who Won Women the Right to Vote.

Gillibrand could be one of several Democratic senators eyeing a presidential bid, including Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Cory Booker of New Jersey and Kamala Harris of California.

The hopefuls in the Senate drew a quip Wednesday from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, who told reporters, "It's going to be fun to watch the Democratic presidential aspirants" compete.

He added that Sen. Charles Schumer, the Senate minority leader from New York, "may have some attendance problems from time to time."